How To Recognize Drupal-Built Websites

Posted on: July 06, 2008

Geeks among us often wonder what a website is built with. Is it a
Java/J2EE home-cooked mess? Is it a .Net nightmare? Or is it a common
CMS installation styled to the extent of not being recognizable (i.e.
not being ugly, anymore :) )?

Most 5-minute drupal installations will respond to requests like
http://example.com/user/ and http://example.com/admin/ and you will see
familiar Drupal interface: either the ugly tabs, or the Garland itself.

More paranoid (or careful?) admins may have the default URIs disguised
for public eyes. If we are doing analysis using an automated tool
(somebody?) it's better to have an alternative method since other CMS's
may respond to the same URIs and automated tools don't have eyes to see
the ugly tabs.

What may help in a complex analysis of a site is looking at its HTML
source. If in the header you see URIs like "/misc/drupal.js" you know
this site is running Drupal! If the website admin had enabled javascript
aggregation, though, you won't see anything like that and will have to
hunt for "/sites/default/files/js" pattern.

Also, please note that Drupal does not load drupal.js if no other
javascript is requested from code, so you may not see any of those on
the home page. It's the best to look at the "Add Comment" pages, since
those usually have some Javascript.

Happy hunting! :)

Irakli Nadareishvili's Blog

"The only things you need to be a great programmer are: curiosity, empathy and attention to detail. Everything else you can learn over time. Everything." ~ @inadarei